May 22, 2026 — 8:00pm Photo: Cathy WilcoxTo submit a letter to The Age, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number. No attachments, please include your letter in the body of the email. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published.Israel’s ambassador to Australia had no choice but to join his political overlords in condemning National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s humiliating maltreatment of the Sumud flotilla detainees, albeit while seeking to minimise the offence as run-of-the-mill political (″⁣Israeli envoy condemns taunting detainees″⁣, 22/5). Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the protesters’ treatment as ″⁣not in line with Israel’s values and norms″⁣ while Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar stated that Ben-Gvir had ″⁣knowingly caused harm to our state in this disgraceful display″⁣. These strictures are nothing more than performative.However repugnant the treatment of the detainees (now released), it pales into insignificance compared with Israel’s ruthless war of death and destruction in Gaza and its active suffocation of Palestinian life in the West Bank. If the killings in Gaza and the dispossessions in the West Bank are in accord with Israel’s values and norms and are no cause of disgrace, then what Ben-Gvir did to the flotilla volunteers shouldn’t be something to be ashamed of.Tom Knowles, ParkvilleActivists should focus on HamasLike most pro-Palestinian activists, Neve O’Connor (Comment, 22/5) makes no mention of Hamas – the chief architect of the enduring misery faced by Gazans. Gaza will not be reconstructed as long as it is ruled by those who remain committed to Israel’s destruction, and who have initiated all five wars against the Jewish state since Israel completely disengaged from Gaza in 2005. The principal obstacle to the advancement of the plan aimed at bringing a lasting peace to Gaza is the refusal of Hamas to disarm, and that’s where those activists who genuinely have the best interests of Gazans at heart should be focusing their efforts.Geoff Feren, St Kilda EastWong needs to take meaningful actionPenny Wong, it’s time to take some real action against Israel for its appalling treatment of Australians taken from the recent flotilla in international waters. With no country willing to stop Israel from these illegal interceptions stronger reactions are required. Time to send the Israeli ambassador back to Israel to make a government statement that is meaningful.Mira Antoniou, BrightonInternational outrage is selectiveYes, there is (correctly) an international outrage at how international activists are being treated by the Israeli forces. But where is the enormous outrage at the ongoing horrific issues that Palestinians are having to deal with daily? Where is the outrage about the increasing death toll during the ceasefire because of the total destruction of infrastructure, which is leading to infections from lack of nutritional food, clean water and medications.Joan Lynn, WilliamstownTHE FORUMFuel to the fireI feel as if I am living in an alternate reality in which climate change doesn’t exist. Angus Taylor in his budget reply speech said, “I announce that a Coalition government will work with coal-fired power plant owners to keep them running as long and as hard as possible to get electricity prices down.” The South Australian government has just announced it plans to reverse its ban on fracking. And, the CSIRO is gutting its climate modelling teams (″⁣CSIRO cuts climate jobs as El Niño looms″⁣, 22/5). This is all happening when the last 11 years have been the hottest on record. In what reality does this make sense? By the way, when it comes to cost of living, my house insurance bill just when up by more than 25 per cent, fuelled by climate change.Lynn Frankes, KewFunding cuts madnessIt is madness that a wealthy country already feeling the effects of climate change cannot properly fund the climate scientists upon whose whose modelling we rely (“CSIRO cuts climate jobs as El Niño looms”, 22/5). Somehow, the Albanese government won’t properly tax the climate-polluting gas companies profiting from exporting our resources, yet allows a public institution as fundamental as the CSIRO to shed staff. The contradiction is absurd. Once again, the fossil-fuel lobby and its shareholders walk away with the money, while the rest of us are left holding the hose.Larni Dibben, Glen IrisWhat is going on?It’s a bit rich of Environment Minister Murray Watt to be now opposing the placement of the Great Barrier Reef on UNESCO’s in-danger list. After all, it was he who approved Woodside’s NW Shelf Project to continue spewing huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere until 2070.Ian Bayly, UpweyPeople have the powerCitizens are not watching the remaking of history (Waleed Aly, Opinion, 22/5), but taking action to remake it. There was nothing passive about the Farrer byelection.What deserves trust is also being remade. Trust is no longer earned from personal charisma, or lost from personal shortcomings of individual politicians. The past trust of citizens in government is being reworked by the detrimental effects of government policy failures on the daily lives of citizens, in terms of their needs as individuals and in their personal responsibilities across the generations of their greater family team.Ruth Farr, Blackburn SouthHealth lifesaverColumnist Jenna Price has a limited vision of private health insurance (Opinion, 21/5). It means far more to me than new spectacles and teeth cleaning. It has actually saved my life, twice – a radical hysterectomy for cervical cancer in 2008 and, recently, four days in ICU with an obstructed bowel. The bill for that alone was $19,000. I only paid $250, which is my excess. That money also paid for 13 nights in rehab.I am an 80-years-old, part-age pensioner and plan to continue with my cover despite losing some government rebate. I still prefer being alive to being dead.Evelyn Lawson, KaringalPlanning rethink neededIllustrator Megan Herbert’s “How to create new public housing” (20/5) showing people crammed in boxes, fits so well with the proposal to cram people into development boxes up to 45 storeys high on a development site in Burwood. Potential occupants would need to realise that the government itself is boxed in with the idea of concentrated housing without due thought to the fact that these high density dwellings are being plonked into suburbs whose resources are already under pressure.For the proposed site there is only one primary school between it and Box Hill residential towers; and Box Hill itself is still waiting for a primary school. No community hubs, new parkland, or sporting areas are indicated for the site or the surrounding area where medium density subdivisions continue. People need a more holistic approach to their planning policies to include the very real needs of both present and future populations.Elizabeth Meredith, Surrey HillsFairness and aspirationWhen I was young, I had no assets. I worked hard and, over time, I accumulated them.I was a single mother at a time when there was no government assistance for childcare or education. There were no special concessions, grants or tax advantages for people like me. I paid the same taxes as everyone else while carrying the full responsibility of supporting my family and trying to build a secure future.That experience did not make me resent younger people. It taught me discipline, sacrifice and personal responsibility.Today’s asset-poor young people are tomorrow’s asset-rich older people. That is how life works. People begin with little, work, save, invest and, hopefully, achieve security later in life.What is deeply skewed is a government approach that increasingly treats older Australians as a source of revenue simply because they worked hard, planned ahead and accumulated assets over decades. Governments should not punish prudence while rewarding dependency.Many older Australians have structured their lives carefully so they will never become a burden on the public purse. Yet they are now being targeted precisely because they succeeded in becoming financially independent.A fair society should encourage aspiration across all generations — not divide Australians by age and redistribute wealth according to electoral strategy.The current plan to take more from older Australians in order to deliver benefits to younger voters is not balanced policy. It is generational politics.Trish Young, HamptonA footy exampleAs Scott Pendlebury prepares to play his 433rd AFL game on Saturday, it is worth pausing to simply say thank you.For more than two decades, Pendlebury has represented everything good about our national game – courage, discipline, leadership and humility. He has quietly gone about his craft with dignity and consistency, earning the respect of teammates, opponents, and supporters alike.Beyond the statistics and records, his greatest contribution may be the example he has set for young and aspiring sportspeople: that greatness is achieved not through ego, but through commitment, hard work and modesty.Darren Grindrod, GlenroyJet back to 1960If I had a dollar for every time during my 75 years someone said ″⁣that will never happen″⁣ or ″⁣won’t happen ever again″⁣, I would be able to afford to fly business class.Scott Pendlebury’s record-breaking game and the commentary around it takes me back to 1960. Watching Jet Jackson on our new TV talking to someone on a video link, my brother said something like ″⁣pull the other one Jet″⁣.John Rawson, MerndaWage earners and risksYour correspondent (Letters, 22/5) rails at entrepreneurs paying the same tax as wage earners and wants rewards for enterprise. They then ask: what risk do wage earners take?I could state a few risks that wage earners take: depending on an earning a living with a dodgy business that goes broke leaving entitlements unpaid, non-compliant safety standards, unpaid superannuation, general insecurity, exploitation and coping with an over bearing proprietor.Entrepeneurs need employees to expand their business. Employees need to earn a living. We’re all in it together!Andrew Barnes, RingwoodA dismal gloomEssayist Thomas Carlyle must be spinning in his grave. Almost 200 years ago he saideconomics was the dismal science not the gloomy science (″⁣Minister warns of zombie apocalypse″⁣, 21/5)). Either way, economics is not a bucket of chuckles.Viviane King, MilawaTrain of thoughtIf Melbourne Airport is serious about removing the drop-off and pick-up zones, they should wait until the airport train line is built.Tim Durbridge, Brunswick Photo: Matt GoldingAND ANOTHER THINGSwimwearI remember being alarmed when my primary school teacher who had recently arrived from the UK told us to bring our “costumes″⁣ for swimming next day. I had no idea what I was supposed to do and thought it must have been fancy dress.Louisa Ennis, ThornburyFurther to swimwear, how can we forget budgie smugglers, please!Jules Klok, Noble ParkPoliticsI wish Jess Wilson had filled in the potholes in Whitehorse Road (CBD, 22/5).Marie Nash, BalwynPauline Hanson has called for a rise in resource taxes. Haven’t heard her call for a tax on the profits earned by her funding backer, Gina Rinehart.Tom Stafford, Wheelers HillI would much rather my taxes be used to fund protection of the judiciary rather than strippers for Big Build projects (″⁣Security plan for judges too costly″⁣, 22/5).Yvonne Bowyer, Surrey HillsCathy Wilcox (22/5) has perfected the art of saying 1000 words in one picture.Roger Christiansz, Wheelers HillCathy Wilcox has the guts to say what we’re thinking.Belinda Burke, HawthornRe Raul Castro, the US says, “we expect that he will show up here by his own free will, or by another way”. The odds will shorten to “by another way” is my bet.David West, EssendonThose who don’t want a speeding ticket in the new 30km/h zones, please raise your foot.Graeme Daniels, Balwyn NorthFurther to your correspondent (Letters, 22/5), my pub poll shows the number of umpires does not lead to better decisions and happier fans. My theory is the inverse, which will be proven when another umpire is added to ″⁣fix″⁣ the game.Peter Thomas, Pascoe ValeWhen 1000 people finished mixing the world’s biggest bowl of guacamole, how did they stop it turning into that yucky brown colour (Odd Spot, 22/5)?Paul Custance, HighettMore:LettersOpinionFor subscribersIsraeli-Palestinian conflictFrom our partners